College football regular-season attendance dips to lowest average since 2003

There were plenty of empty seats at Jordan-Hare Stadium in the fourth quarter of Auburn's 38-0 loss to Georgia. (Julie Bennett/al.com)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Regular-season attendance at college football's highest level dipped to 45,274 fans per game in 2012, the lowest average since 2003.

Football Bowl Subdivision crowds declined for the second straight season, according to an analysis by AL.com of NCAA attendance figures for 2012 and past years. Five of the six Bowl Championship Series conferences experienced lower averages in 2012.

College football still drew 35.3 million fans into stadiums and remains one of America's most popular sports. But the average regular-season attendance has decreased 3 percent since peaking at 46,739 in 2008.

The sport averaged greater than 46,000 fans every regular season between 2007 and 2010. Attendance fell under 46,000 for the second straight year.

Fifty-six percent of the FBS schools reported fewer fans in 2012 than the previous season. Some of those dips were very minor, but others saw huge chunks of fans disappear.

Five of the nation's top 20 attendance leaders experienced noticeable declines, led by 5-percent drops at Penn State and Tennessee. Penn State faced the aftermath of a child-molestation scandal that resulted in a postseason ban. Tennessee had its fourth losing season in the past five years.

Florida, which finished third in the BCS standings, was down 2 percent in attendance. Auburn declined 4 percent during its worst season in 60 years. ACC champion Florida State dipped 3 percent with an unattractive home schedule beyond Clemson and Florida.

The SEC continued to lead the nation at 75,444 fans per game, but that was its lowest average since 2007. SEC crowds are down 2 percent since peaking in 2008 at 76,844.

This season, the SEC began allowing stadium scoreboards to air multiple replays of any play, including those under review by officials. The NFL used a similar approach. The idea is to try to provide similar bells and whistles that fans at home can see while saving money and watching on TV.

In 2012, a face-value ticket for an SEC game reached $100 for the first time. Four years ago, the SEC's priciest ticket was the Iron Bowl at $65. This season, 30 SEC games cost at least $65, including nondescript matchups such as Mississippi State-Tennessee, Ole Miss-Vanderbilt, Missouri-Vanderbilt and Missouri-Kentucky.

On the other hand, the minimum SEC season-ticket price in 2012 -- defined by AL.com as the cost of regularly-priced season tickets plus any required minimum donation -- showed no increase from 2011. Half of the league's returning schools reported decreases in their cheapest season-ticket cost.

The Big Ten averaged 70,387 fans per game in 2012, its lowest since 2008. The Big 12, in its first season with West Virginia and TCU rather than Texas A&M and Missouri, experienced the league's smallest average (58,712) since 2005.

The Pac-12 (53,586) was the only BCS conference with an increase. But that's largely due to California returning to its renovated stadium after playing last season in a smaller stadium. The Pac-12 average has declined 8 percent since setting a record in 2007.

The ACC's average crowd of 49,544 was its smallest in 12 years and down 11 percent since 2004, the first year Miami and Virginia Tech played in the conference. The Big East, now minus top draw West Virginia, averaged 39,185 for its smallest crowds since 2006. Four of the Big East's top five attendance leaders will soon be in new conferences: Louisville, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Syracuse.

College football could get a jolt in attendance once the four-team playoff starts in 2014, depending on how schools and conferences choose to adapt.

Strength of schedule is expected to be a key criteria for the selection committee when picking playoff teams. That could mean more attractive regular-season games get scheduled -- either inside or outside conferences -- that in turn generates larger crowds.